Leaving Galapagos

What an adventure we have had...before we came the Galapagos Islands were something I had only heard of...several islands with many animals...now though I have been enchanted...the islands are rugged and barren looking...covered with grey trees, volcanic rock, beaches and cacti...but up close they are teaming with life...birds are everywhere some mating...some having done so already...lizards and iguanas lie in the sun to warm up so they can climb down to the ocean to feed, only to climb up again for a bake in the afternoon sun...giant tortoises are still living on some islands and sea turtles are literally everywhere.  We were lucky to be there when the turtles were mating so we saw them...in the water...stacked one atop the other while males circled nearby awaiting an opportunity...

We snorkeled twice a day and hiked twice as well, and both were great, offering different types of viewing opportunities.  (My foot held up okay, but I had to be very careful with each step).
The snorkeling was fantastic with opportunities to see incredible sea life, to play with sea lions and to look at sharks and stingrays...we saw so much that it is hard to remember it all...
 

 

 

 

 

 

When we left the boat we went to our hotel...a really lovely bed and breakfast called the Casa Iguana Mar y Sol.  It had a lovely cross breeze in our room thanks to large windows and after we hiked to the top of a trail overlooking the town and looking out to the west we fell asleep to the sounds of the sea lions barking in the distance (all animals are protected so sea lions are literally everywhere...sitting on the park benches, lying under and on the boardwalks, curled up in flower beds...they sleep all day...so the night is party time for them I suppose)

Today though we leave it all behind as we head to Guayaquil on the mainland where we will stay for one night exploring the historical centre of town.
 

 

  

The Galapagos

Indescribable...

  

  

New Years in Quito

Bringing in the new year in Quito was an experience indeed...the traditions were very different than what we are used to in Canada.  It is a major celebration continuing into the wee small hours of the night.  The fire works started at 8:00 at night and continued until 1 in the morning...unbelievable...we were in our room and watching the fireworks explode all around us...literally.

Also effigies are made and burned to mark the end of the new year...like celebrations in November in the UK I suppose.  In addition, the men dress as the widow of the new year...stop traffic and get a "donation" from drivers...all in good fun...

We were quite blown away by it all...

A man dressed asthe widow of the new year.

The rope was used to stop cars to seek "voluntary" donations from drivers before they were allowed to pass

Effigies of pop stars and political leaders are burned in the street at midnight 

 

 

 

The middle of the Earth

Today has been a fun day as we took a taxi to the equator (both the right and the wrong one).  It was so interesting...did you know that the Inca's had already determined the correct location of the equator and had built a number of temples along it???  One wonders how the Europeans got it so wrong in the end and even erected a monument and a church along the "equator" line, to stand forever as a testament to their error in calculations...

 

An aboriginal museum, located on the true equator, was a hands on experience with a guide explaining the customs of some of the aboriginals in the Amazon Basin indigenous to Ecuador.  She took us to the equator line and we performed a number of "experiments" to prove that we were indeed at the equator...this included balancing an egg on a nail (we saw this performed, but could not do it ourselves)...we saw the water test performed, where the water flowed counter-clockwise in the north and clockwise in the south...and we also found that certain things could not be done on the equator (like holding ones arms up against the pressure of someone pulling them down)...it was fascinating indeed.

The egg, balancing on a nail...only possible apparently at the equator itself

The red line is the true equator

 

We followed this up with a visit to the famous and foreboding monument....which is some 200 meters away from the actual equator...it was not half as interesting...but it was much grander...we visited the church on the site which has the markings of the "equator" running through it...all in all it was fun.

 



The Monument of the Equator, 200 meters away from the Equator itself!



 

Perhaps equally remarkable was our first stop...which was an outlook over an old volcano Caldera which is now farmed by the aboriginals.  The view was spectacular...

 

 

As to wildlife...we saw some birds, including a humming bird sitting in its nest, two llamas were engaged in the usual springtime activity, and guinea pigs were in captivity and also available as a meal...

 

Llamas celebrating spring

 

 

 

 

To all who may be reading this blog...hope that tonight's new years celebrations are fun and that you have a wonderful and prosperous new year.